2025 Shire of Broome Election

2025 Election Overview

In October 2025, Local Government elections will be held throughout Western Australia, including the Shire of Broome.

The 2025 Broome Shire Council election will be held on Saturday, October 18 2025.

There will be four Councillor seats available.

Voting in a local government election is not compulsory in Western Australia. However, all local electors are strongly encouraged to vote. 

The Shire of Broome election is in-person, which means votes are cast at a polling booth. Electors may apply for a postal vote, absentee vote or an early vote if they are not able to go to a local polling booth on election day.

For more information on Local government elections 

2025 Election Results

Total votes: 1,093
Informal votes: 10
Formal votes: 1,083

Full Results Here(PDF, 522KB)

 Candidate  First preference votes  Vote at last count
COOPER, Sean   218   217 
SMITH, Garry  114 170 
MALE, Desiree  294  217 
KNEEBONE, Scott  54  0
MATSUMOTO, Philip  162   217
ARCHIBOLD, Sam  44  0
HART, Dannielle  72  0
TAYLOR, Peter  125  214

 

Key dates

WALGA Local Govt Elections Candidate Webinar  6pm, August 18
Roll closes 5pm, August 22
Candidate Nominations Open  August 28
Close of Candidate nominations  4pm, September 4
Close of absent voting and postal voting  4pm, October 14
Close of early in-person voting  4pm, October 17
Election Day  October 18
Election results declared and published  October 19
Newly election members to make declaration of office  October 20

 

More information on regulatory dates here

 

Nominate as a Candidate

Nominations open: Thursday, 28 August 2025
Nominations close: Thursday, 4 September 2025 at 4.00pm

Nominations can only be made to the Returning Officer during the designated nomination period. When a candidate makes a declaration , they are attesting that they are an elector of the district and are not disqualified from holding office. The Returning Officer can witness a candidate's declaration. For more information about nominations please visit the Local Government Candidates | Western Australian Electoral Commission.

To nominate as a candidate for a Local Government Election, the candidate must make a valid nomination application. This consists of:

  • a completed nomination form. It is recommended that candidates use Nomination Builder to complete their nomination form and construct their candidate profile.
  • a candidate profile (maximum 1000 characters inclusive of spaces).
  • a deposit of $100.
  • a photograph (optional).

All nomination applications must be signed by the candidate in front of a witness. The nomination application must be presented to the Returning Officer at a pre-arranged appointment before 4.00pm on the day of close of nominations, 37 days before election day.

As the Returning Officer may ask candidates to amend their nomination, it is recommended that candidates ensure that they have allowed sufficient time to finalise any required changes prior to the close of nominations.

Eligibility to nominate

Under the Local Government Act 1995, to be eligible to nominate as a candidate for a local government election, the candidate must be an elector of the district (residential or owner / occupier) and over 18 years of age. A person cannot nominate as a candidate if they:

  • are a member of the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Council, the House of Representatives or the Senate (or has been elected as such a member but has not yet taken office)
  • are a member of the council of another Local Government
  • are an insolvent under administration
  • are in prison serving a sentence for a crime
  • have been convicted of a serious local government offence within the last 5 years (unless the court waived the disqualification)
  • have been convicted on indictment of an offence for which the indictable penalty was, or included:
    • imprisonment for life, or
    • imprisonment for more than five years.
  • are subject to a court order disqualifying him or her from being a member of a council because he or she has misapplied local government funds or property
  • are a nominee of a body corporate.

Prior to nominating, all candidates must complete the online candidate induction course from the Induction for prospective candidates | LGIRS website. 

Returning Officer

If you intend to stand as a nominee in the election, you will need to meet with the returning officer.

Please contact our Returning Officer, Mr Paul Roberts: 

 The RO will then be in touch with you to book your appointment.

How to vote for Council representatives

Eligibility to vote 

You may be eligible to be enrolled to vote in the local government elections if you live in or are an owner or occupier of rateable property in the Shire of Broome. Check you enrolment at the Western Australian Electoral Commission website

Residents

You are automatically enrolled to vote if you are on the State Electoral Roll as at 5:00 PM Friday, 25 August 2023. 

Non-Resident Owners and Occupiers

If you are a non-resident owner or occupier of rateable property in the Shire of Broome and are on the State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll, you are eligible to enrol to vote.

If you are not on the State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll and own or occupy rateable property in the Shire of Broome you may be eligible to enrol to vote. This applies if you were on the last electoral roll for the Shire of Broome prior to May 1996 and have owned or occupied rateable property in the district continuously since this time. Please contact your local government for details.

Owners of land who were on the last Local Government roll continue to retain that status until they cease to own the rateable property to which the enrolment relates.

Occupiers do not have continuous enrolment and should contact the Shire of Broome to confirm their enrolment status. To be eligible to enrol as an occupier, you will need to have a right of continuous occupation under a lease, tenancy agreement or other legal instrument for at least the next three months following the date of the application to enrol.

Joint Owners and Occupiers

If a rateable property is owned or occupied by more than two people, a majority of the owners/occupiers may nominate two persons from amongst themselves who are on either the State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll, to enrol as owner/occupier electors.

Corporations

A body corporate that owns or occupies rateable property may nominate two people who are on either the State or Commonwealth Electoral Roll to enrol as owner/occupier electors. 

Election signage

Elections signs are generally exempt from the need to obtain Development Approval from when an election is called but must be removed within 48 hours of the conclusion of the election.

The election is considered to be called when:

  • Federal Election – A date has been set by the Prime Minister
  • Referendum or Pelebescite – A date has been set by the Prime Minister
  • State Election – A date has been set by the Premier
  • Local Election – The date nominations open

Election Signs within Shire road reserves

Election signs can be installed in the Shire’s road reserves under the Local Government Property and Public Places Local Law 2016 (Local Law). Under the Local Law the following conditions need to be met:

  • erected at least 30 metres from any intersection;
  • freestanding and not affixed to any existing sign, post, power or light pole, or similar structure;
  • placed so as not to obstruct or impede the use of a thoroughfare or obstruct or impede access to a place;
  • placed so as not to obstruct or impede the vision of a driver of a vehicle;
  • maintained in good condition;
  • removed within 24 hours of the close of polls on voting day;
  • ·not placed within 100 metres of any works on a thoroughfare;
  • securely installed;
  • ·not illuminated or incorporating reflective or fluorescent materials; and
  • ·not displaying only part of a message which is to be read with other separate signs in order to obtain the whole message.

If the above conditions are satisfied a permit is not required.

The conditions are incorporated into the Shire’s Local Laws to maintain safety. Signs that do not comply with these conditions may be removed by Shire staff and held at the Shire depot, from where they can be collected by request.

Gubinge RoadGreat Northern Highway and Broome Road are under the care and control of Main Roads WA. If you are intending upon installing election signs on these roads, please contact the MRWA office in Derby on 9158 4333.

Signs on private property or property fences

Under clause 61(1)(g) of the deemed provisions of the Shire of Broome Local Planning Scheme No 7 (LPS7) the temporary erection of an advertisement installed in connection with an election is exempt from development approval. Please note that signs on private property or on property fences must have the approval of the landowner and must be removed within 24 hours after the election.

Click here(PDF, 187KB) for more information about the Local Government Property and Public Places Law.